“You’re not seeing him today?”
I chew the inside of my cheek. “We spent last night and this morning together.” My stomach clenches as vivid memories of how we spent last night and this morning fill my mind, and I have to physically shake my head to remove them. “Plus, I wanted to be here with you.”
“You should invite him over,” she suggests, looking around at the counters covered with food. “We have plenty, since you can’t exactly buy Christmas dinner for two.”
“Um . . .”
“At least invite him for dessert,” she continues, reading my nervous expression. “I’d like to meet him.”
“I’ll send him a text.” I give in, thinking Gaston probably won’t want to drive over here, so I might have some time to come to terms with the two of them meeting.
“After you do that, I want to hear all about him.”
“There’s a lot to tell,” I inform her absently while I find my cell phone in my purse.
“We have a lot of time,” she says as I send him a quick text, telling him my mom would like to meet him—as in tonight—if he’s up for it, but it’s okay if he doesn’t want to drive over here. I also send him the address so he can see how far away it is. Approximately one minute after I press send on the text, my cell rings. “Is that him?” Mom asks, and I nod, looking at his name on the screen and wondering why he can’t be like every other guy and just send a text back. “Are you going to answer it?”
Without answering her question, I press the green button and put my phone to my ear. “Can’t you be like every other person living in this century and text back instead of calling?”
“Sweetheart.” He chuckles. “If I did that, I wouldn’t be able to hear your voice.”
“Yeah, but you’d still be able to answer my question. And just so you know, this isn’t helping you prove you’re not actually an alien,” I say, and then my head flies up when I hear my mother start to laugh. I study her face, wondering how much she can hear.
“You’re adorable, and the answer to your question is yes. What time should I be there?”
“Come whenever you want!” Mom shouts, and I groan. Apparently, she can hear everything, even him through the phone.
“I’ll be there at five,” Gaston responds, and I know he’s smiling. “I might be there before, depending on traffic.”
I look at the clock on the wall. “That’s in less than an hour.”
“Yeah,” he agrees.
“Is Luke going to be upset that you’re leaving so early? Have you even eaten yet?”
“No. And Luke won’t give a shit.” He laughs. “Are you nervous about me meeting your mom?”
“What do you think?”
“I think you worry too much.”
“Whatever,” I grumble, and he laughs again.
“All right, sweetheart. I’ll let you go and send you a text if I feel like I have something to tell you.”
“Liar.” I smile. “Tell Luke and his wife hi for me.”
“Will do, but just so you know, Luke and Cammy want to meet you. And Cammy said if it doesn’t happen soon, she’s going to just show up at your shop one day.”
“She’s welcome to come to the shop anytime, but we’ll make dinner happen before New Year’s if we can all find the time.”
“Good,” he agrees quietly. “Now enjoy your time with your mom, and I’ll see you soon.”
“See you soon,” I agree happily before I hang up.
“He calls you sweetheart, and he actually calls,” Mom states, and I find her grinning at me. “How long have you two been seeing each other?”
“Not long, just a few weeks. But it feels like a lot longer.”
She nods, then asks, “What was that about him being an alien?”
“He’s just not a normal guy, or not like any guy I’ve ever met before.”
The skin around her eyes crinkles as she smiles, and she says softly, “I can’t wait to meet him, or hear all about him, so start talking, honey. And while you do that, put the rolls on a pan.” She tips her head to the orange bag of rolls on the counter.
I fake pout. “I thought you were cooking for me?”
“I did.” She waves her hands around at all the food she’s cooked. “But now I’m going to need your help so I can make a good impression on Gaston. So turn the oven back on so we can heat stuff up, and talk fast, because I want to know everything about your guy before he gets here.”
“So bossy.” I get off the stool I planted myself on when I got here and walk around the kitchen island. As soon as I’m close to my mom, I kiss the side of her head, and she smiles as her bottom lip wobbles. I ignore the wobble and get to work while telling her everything that’s mom appropriate about Gaston, and I tell her quickly, because he’s going to be here soon. Really soon.